I was just at an art museum on a major American campus the other week and was laughing internally at the students pretending that a bunch of ugly wood carvings and literal stick and feather masks were “amazing works”. Everything in the African wing was dated 20th century and had a grand total of 1 thing not made from wood or cloth and it was a horribly designed ceremonial sword that looked like a rusty machete with a handle designed for a 5 year old. Meanwhile there were Roman marble sculptures from 200 BC the next gallery over, including theaters masks.
A bunch of them were probably fake. If you don't have at least a continuous indoor environment, wood and bones won't last 50 years. But there's a demand for 'artifacts' so someone is going to make them.
They were labeled 20th century, there's no reason to suspect they would have spent any meaningful amount of time in the elements, nor is there even much reason to suspect that they're fake when authentic would have been likely been cheaper anyway. Anyone trying to make a fake would like put more labor and effort into the production of such items than the natives would and the value of their labor is likely higher to begin with. Meanwhile a colonial trader could just set up a contract to receive a number of native cultural artifacts in exchange for some cheap booze or whatever.
I was just at an art museum on a major American campus the other week and was laughing internally at the students pretending that a bunch of ugly wood carvings and literal stick and feather masks were “amazing works”. Everything in the African wing was dated 20th century and had a grand total of 1 thing not made from wood or cloth and it was a horribly designed ceremonial sword that looked like a rusty machete with a handle designed for a 5 year old. Meanwhile there were Roman marble sculptures from 200 BC the next gallery over, including theaters masks.
A bunch of them were probably fake. If you don't have at least a continuous indoor environment, wood and bones won't last 50 years. But there's a demand for 'artifacts' so someone is going to make them.
They were labeled 20th century, there's no reason to suspect they would have spent any meaningful amount of time in the elements, nor is there even much reason to suspect that they're fake when authentic would have been likely been cheaper anyway. Anyone trying to make a fake would like put more labor and effort into the production of such items than the natives would and the value of their labor is likely higher to begin with. Meanwhile a colonial trader could just set up a contract to receive a number of native cultural artifacts in exchange for some cheap booze or whatever.